Liverpool Will Let Luis Suárez Go to Barcelona

Liverpool and Barcelona settled on a transfer fee reported to be 75 million pounds (about $128 million), and Luis Suárez agreed to a five-year contract with the Catalan club.

Alex Livesey / Getty Images

By SAM BORDEN

July 11, 2014

Luis Suárez, who was suspended from all soccer activities for four months after biting an opposing player during the World Cup, will return from his ban with a new club: Barcelona.

It may not be the best example for young and impressionable players looking up to Suárez, the Uruguayan star, but part of the fallout from Suárez’s infamous nibble of the Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini’s shoulder was increased pressure on Liverpool, his former club in England’s Premier League, to grant him the transfer he had requested.

Liverpool had previously rejected opportunities to part with Suárez, but after this latest case — the third biting episode of Suárez’s career — Liverpool engaged Barcelona in negotiations. The teams settled on a transfer fee reported to be £75 million (about $128 million), and Suárez agreed to a five-year contract with the Catalan club.

“It is with a heavy heart that I leave Liverpool for a new life and new challenges in Spain,” Suárez said in a statement. “Both me and my family have fallen in love with this club and with the city.”

In his statement, and later in a letter posted on his official Twitter account, Suárez directly addressed the Liverpool fans, many of whom supported him through a tenure with the club that included controversy (a previous biting episode and a suspension for making racially insensitive remarks) and success (the club finished second in the Premier League last season, with Suárez scoring 31 goals).

“I hope you can all understand why I have made this decision,” he said. “This club did all they could to get me to stay, but playing and living in Spain, where my wife’s family live, is a lifelong dream and ambition. I believe now the timing is right.”

FIFA announced this week that Suárez’s appeal of his punishment, which also includes a ban of nine international matches, was denied, meaning he will be ineligible to participate in practices or games with Barcelona until the end of October.